Promotional items or products are articles of merchandise that are used in marketing and communication programs. They are typically given away or provided to promote a product, service, company, corporate image, brand, and/or event. Promotional products are a relatively simple and economic way to raise customer awareness of a product or brand, to present information to consumers and others, to increase demand of a product or service advertised by the promotional product, and/or to differentiate the promotional product from other products in the marketplace.
Promotional products can come in any of a variety of forms, and are often branded with a logo, slogan, and/or other information to promote the product, service, company, corporate image, brand, or event. Promotional products can include, for example, functional items such as writing instruments including pens and styluses, key chains, night lights, mini-flashlights or penlights, portable power banks, or any of a variety of useful items. Generally, the promotional item is pocket-sized, such that it fits easily into a pocket or purse, with the intent that the intended recipient uses the item frequently, which, in turn, increases awareness of the promotional message by the recipient.
However, often times the functionality of the promotional items outperforms the desired promotional advertising effect. For example, the recipient may use a pen a number of times, without awareness or noticing the promotional message after the first few uses. In other circumstances, the promotional item may have limited or short-term functionality such that the recipient only uses the item a few times before discarding the item, thereby limiting the awareness of the promotional advertising message.
There remains a need for items having an enhanced advertising message for increased awareness of the message by the recipient to ultimately drive demand.